Cover Story: Emily Durenberger
From photography to drag racing, junior Emily Durenberger shares her passions and her story.
by Mathias Durie, Kelly Hinseth and Megan Nickel | Royal Report
What is ‘True Beauty?’
Late one night, Emily Durenberger sat with her roommates in their apartment having a conversation about God’s voice. The conversation focused mainly on how God’s voice is distinct from our own. In that moment, Emily had an idea. An idea that she says “just came to her.”
“I had no idea where it came from,” she said. “The words ‘true beauty’ just sort of popped into my head.”
“True Beauty” is exactly her way of telling a girl’s story. Durenberger has been working on the project for a few months . The idea is to take photographs of college-aged girls without makeup on. After having their photos taken, Durenberger has each girl write down what “true beauty” means to them.
The website dosomething.org states that over 70 percent of girls ages 15 to 17 avoid normal daily activities, such as going to school, when they feel bad about the way that they look. And 75 percent of girls with low self-esteem reported engaging in negative activities, such as cutting, bullying, smoking, drinking or disordered eating.
According to Bethel University Psychology professor Kathy Nevins, low self-esteem can be harmful to teen’s mindsets.
“It affects one’s ability to be authentic,” Nevins said. “And it affects their ability to be the person God made them to be.”
Durenberger has always had a passion for photography.
“I think it’s awesome to capture photos and tell a story through them,” she said.
Since the idea arose, Durenberger has photographed and profiled 12 girls. She started out by texting all of her friends, asking them if they would be interested in being a subject for the project.
One of the first to experience and participate in True Beauty was junior Hadley Cookson.
“I love the idea that every girl that participates has a different definition of beauty,” Cookson said.
Durenberger has run into a few roadblocks in executing the project because “Most girls don’t want to be outside of their room without makeup on,” Durenberger said. To combat this, she goes to the girl’s room, which is where they tend to feel most at ease and most comfortable.
In the end, Durenberger hopes to have 50 to 100 girls profiled by halfway through the summer. After all the photos are completed, she will have them all printed onto Polaroids with the caption of the girl’s definition of true beauty. The photos will be collaged on a large board showcasing every single girl that is profiled.
Durenberger hopes a project like this will combat self-esteem statistics about teen girls.
“My goal is to make each girl see that they are truly beautiful,” Durenberger said, “instead of society’s standard of like a Barbie-doll figure.”
